Car is a 2002 TLS with the updated transmission installed a few months after they came out. Now at 163,000 miles. Transmission shifts very well.
Problem began when car set up a few days while I was doing brake mods/work. Also, coinsides with the weather turning cool. Has done this 4 times now.

When I start car in the morning and start to work-I put the shifter in D5.
The green D5 light does not light up. The sports shift indicator light does not light up when I switch over to SS, and sport shift feature does not work at all.

Now when I start out in D5 with no light lit up, the transmission starts out in what must be second gear, then quickly drops down into first, then goes through the gears OK.

D1, D2, D3, & D4 lights all work. If I start with the shift lever in D1 and manually shift each gear up, it works fine. ( I don't get going fast enough to hit 5th gear on the way work usually)

If I start out in D4, lights work and transmission shifts normally 1 thru 4.
After driving a little and going through the gears with a little spirited acceleration, the D5 light will light back up when I put it back in D5, and the sports shift light and function comes back. Everything works fine the rest of the day. It took longer this morning to get D5 working again.

This seems like (and I hope) is an transmission controller problem and not the usual dreaded transmission failure stating. It shifts fine with no hint of slippage.
Waht do you guys think?

 

any chance someone spilled a soda in the center console-shifter area?

thats been known to mess up the 3 micro-switches loated under there- that run SS

whats the atf look like color wise and smell
are you on the new honda dw1` atf?
do you ever change the atf?

 

I've done two 10 quart total trans fluid changes and several 3 quart changes. Fluid looks and smells good. I still use the regular Honda fluid since that is what was in it and trans seems to like it.

But...very likely some coke or drink has gotten down in the shifter area on the console. Should I just take the covers off & clean & lub?
Thanks!

 

Yeah, it would'nt hurt to take a closer look at the shifter linkage mechanism underneath the console. Ya may get lucky with a little bit of lubing things up.

 

CRC spray electrical contact cleaner $4
apply liberally thru shifter and hope!

or get adventurous and remove pass side cover of center console- bit of a project
the 3 micro-switches are underneath a plastic plate below the shifter
thats why general spraying from above may help...but..more effort may be required

there is a diy on the console side panel removal,,possibly under radio removal??

who remembers the thread title?

 

It almost sounds like a bad ground. I had a bad ground in my 99 and I ran a 0 gauge wire from the top bolt of the battery tray to the transmission, and it worked perfectly. In the morning when it was cold the Trans would not shift and D4 would blink. I actually replaced the transmission range switch/neutral safety switch (there the same thing) before fixing the ground and I still had the same problem. 100 bucks down the drain. Too bad your not in So Cal I would let you try my Trans range switch to see if that was the problem. But check that ground. Honda has a factory ground from the Trans (next to the fill hole on top of the Trans) to the drivers side fender or structure side bar, near battery. Mine was there but I added the 0 gauge anyway and the Trans problems were fixed. One thing to note, of the D numbers on the dash are dim, most likely a ground. After I fixed the ground my lit up like Vegas at night.

Bundy